Projects and Plans
ʔaq'am’s Elders Aging In Community 20-Unit Project
Since 2018, R2R has worked with the ʔaq'am Community of the Ktunaxa Nation on supportive multi-unit housing that meets the needs of Elders and families living on reserve, built Net-zero ready to the BC Step Code’s high-performance standards. The central Community Hub features common space for shared meals, visiting medical professionals, child care, and cultural and ceremonial activities. Currently the project is funded by the Indigenous Homes Innovation project of Indigenous Services Canada, Columbia Basin Trust, and is in the application process of BC Housing’s Community Development Fund.
Sustainable Livelihoods
All our community based work embeds a training and education component that shifts projects from simply building infrastructure to being vehicles for capacity development and lasting livelihoods for members.
We are working with partners from the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers - Aboriginal Skilled Workers Association, University of Victoria, Camosun College, BCIT, Prepare to Work and others to outline curricula along a continuum from low-skilled workforce entry positions to specialized high-performance Red Seal trades, clean energy installation, and technical retrofits.
R2R are also looking at how to best support administrative, leadership, and care-work opportunities for local staffing over the duration of projects’ operations and management.
Stackwall project
Elders in ʔaq'am have been interested for years in how to best utilize local small diameter wood resources for housing developments. Our team is researching the building sciences, training, and monitoring required to develop stackwall (aka “cordwood”) for housing.
Cohousing on Vancouver Island
With the market too hot to handle, housing on Vancouver Island is not accessible for most average wage earners or people on fixed incomes. The R2R team are exploring different opportunities for net-zero, affordable cohousing projects that will serve intergenerational needs. Please contact our team if you or someone you know is interested in discussing how cohousing might work for you, your family and friends.